Object Pronouns

Lesson objective

In this lesson, you will learn the pronouns attached to verbs to represent the object of an action.

Subject and object pronouns

Subject pronouns tell us who performs an action (I, you, he, she, we, they). Object pronouns come after a verb in English: “He hit me,” “I saw her,” “Ask him a question,” “We gave them some cake.” In Darija, object pronouns are attached directly to the end of the verb.

Object-pronoun endings

English	Darija
Me	-ni
You — singular	-k
Him / it	-u / -h
Her / it	-ha
Us	-na
You — plural	-kum
Them	-hum

These forms are the same as the possessive endings, except for me, which is -ni. For him, use -u after a consonant and -h after a vowel.

Examples

3omar 3ṭa waнd l-ktab l Mohamed. — Omar gave a book to Mohamed.
3omar 3ṭah l Mohamed. — Omar gave it to Mohamed.

weš ktbti l-bra l Hassan? — Did you write the letter to Hassan?
iyeh, ktbtha l Hassan. — Yes, I wrote it to Hassan.

3laš xllitina m3ah? — Why did you leave us with him?

šaftni f s-sinima. — She saw me at the cinema.

Object pronouns in negative sentences

When a verb has an object pronoun, the negative suffix -š comes after the pronoun.

šftini — you saw me  ·  ma-šftini-š — you did not see me

weš šfti Hakima u Karim? — Did you see Hakima and Karim?
lla, ma-šfthum-š. — No, I did not see them.

Exercise: replace the noun with an object pronoun

• qrit dik l-jarida l-barн f ṣ-ṣbaн.
• nsau s-sarut dyalhum f ḍ-ḍar.
• zrt duk n-nas f Fes l-barн.
• ddau wldhum m3ahum l s-sinima.
• wqqfna š-šffar f z-znqa.
• bba 3awn xuk f l-нsab.